A question we get asked a lot is whether energy saving improvements add value to your property. For many of our clients, a positive answer makes the capital expenditure easier to bear as you know that you get the value back on a sale.
Traditionally, energy and energy efficiency measur…

We talk about technology a lot on the website, but technology by itself is not enough - it's the user that makes the most difference. It's no good having the most efficient boiler, if you turn the thermostat up high, and then open the windows when it gets too hot.
User-behaviour was the the…

Four of the Big Six UK energy providers are expected to increase energy prices by the end of this year after Scottish and Southern Electric (SSE) announced plans to increase domestic gas and electricity prices by an average of 9 per cent from October 15.
The price rise, set to affect 5 million el…

I've read a lot about energy in the past four years: how to save it, and how to generate it. But I until now I haven't found any one source that explains how we use energy in our homes, and how to use it more effectively, as well as the Home Energy Handbook.
Published a couple of months ago by th…

This is our second summer of experience from one of our passivhaus retrofits. The good news is that, with a little bit of occupant management, both summers have been a great success – the house has stayed cool and fresh, with minor instances of localised over-heating.
When we mode…

We can bang on about the importance of energy effiiciency as much and as loudly as we want, but maybe there are more subtle ways of stating its importance and raising it up people's consciousness. On my recent holiday in France I saw two examples of simple, yet really effective awareness (and consci…

With a lot of discussion about rising energy bills, many concerned homeowners now feel compelled to make a positive effort to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
Easy wins are those measures which can be adopted without major cost or disruption and you can often instal…

Here in the UK we throw away a million tonnes of household electrical and electronic waste every year - and that’s just from our homes. If that figure wasn’t shocking enough, at least as much comes from non-household sources such as offices, factories, schools and hospitals.
Waste electrical …

Every year there are more and more people opening up their homes, so others can see what measures they have taken to make them warmer, more comfortable, last but not least cheaper to heat. With energy bills on a steep upward trajectory, taking action to reduce your need for energy has never made so …

Recently, we had to get an energy performance certificate (EPC) done to qualify for the feed-in tariff (FiT) for solar panels.
We live in an old Devon longhouse constructed of cob. An Esse wood burning range cooker, a solar thermal panel system, and an oil-fired boiler (as backup for very cold we…

Insulation and condensation often appear in the same sentence - but you surely don't want them to appear together in your house. So my favourite tip from YouGen readers is the following sage advice from Harmsy who says:
"Before insulating in the loft to 'modern standards' do check that …

More than half of online retailers are not displaying full energy label information - yet it’s a legal obligation for them to do so!
Wherever you purchase a washing machine, TV or other electrical appliance, energy efficiency information should be displayed, whether you buy it from the …

When I came to the energy efficiency business three years ago, I didn’t know anything about the technologies involved or the technical detail that goes behind them. What I did know, is that people like me wanted to save energy at home.
The thing preventing me and many others from…

A biomass boiler, solar PV and solar thermal are all the result of a Welsh guest house's belief that you should be able to enjoy a holiday without damaging the environment. Installation of the boiler means the guest house has become the first business in Wales to benefit from the Renewable Heat Ince…

Green Deal measures must be checked and monitored after installation to ensure that the quality is good and they are achieving the expected levels of performance.
Speaking at yesterday's FLASH Green Deal Conference, organised by the Institute of Sustainability, Paul Ruyssevelt of the Technology S…

We love reading your stories and tips of what works (and doesn't work) for you. Here are this month's favourites:
Where you site your air source heat pump is important, as this succinct message from Lizlaw confirms:
"Our heat pump warms the house and water consistently, reliably and saves us m…

OK, we know the most energy efficient way to dry our clothes is outdoors, but modern lifestyles don’t always allow for this, and a tumble dryer, for a busy family, is often seen as a necessity. But should you choose a vented or a condenser tumble dryer? And what else should you look for?
…

Traditionally we've measured the strength of our lightbulbs in watts. A 40 watt incandescent light bulb was dim, a 100 watt one was bright. However, that measure was misleading. Watts are a measure of power consumption, not of light.
A 100 watt incandescent bulb needed 100 watts of electricity to…

Described as a "labour of love" by designers Green Tomato Energy the conversion of a Victorian mid-terrace, built in approximately 1870 with solid brick walls, to PassivHaus standard has significantly improved comfort and reduced energy bills.
Due to planning restrictions in the local conservatio…

When plasma and LCD TVs first arrived in the shops, we were dazzled by their stunning picture quality and screen size, and overlooked the fact that, compared with most tube televisions, these beasts were energy guzzlers. This was something the salesman, wowing us with bright colours and a 42 inch sc…